The Tak Team Blog

What’s keeping you from losing weight? For most people, the answer is lack of motivation.

It comes in many forms, sometimes before starting the diet or during the diet.

Maybe you just can’t get started because the whole process is too overwhelming. First you have to choose the diet, gather the recipes, buy the proper food, measure it, and prepare it. Maybe the rest of the family won’t eat what’s on your diet, so you need to prepare something else in addition to your diet meals.

Perhaps you get off to a good start, but it becomes too much work and you give up.

Eventually the lack of encouragemnet, lack of time, and lack of energy is just too much and you give up.

Some reasons for diet failure include:

1. Family commitments. Children are extremely busy and that means mom and dad are busy. Sports, extracurricular activities, and church keep families on the run, leaving just enough time to drive through a fast food restaurant.

2. Not enough energy. After a long day of getting kids to school, working a full day, then evening events, most people barely have enough energy to fall into bed, let alone plan and cook a calorie-conscious meal.

3. Habit. Cooking healthy is a relatively new concept, so few of us were trained to cook this way. Thus, new habits need to be formed and that takes time. Developing new habits takes hard work.

4. Self-discipline–the second half of developing a habit. We make mental choices all the time. The battle for right versus wrong wages inside our minds. Which side wins? All too often it’s the easy way, which means fast food, junk food, and not very nutritious food.

5. Sedentary lifestyles. We sit at work for hours on end, sometimes barely moving a muscle, except to pick up the phone. This contributes to fatigue, depression, and lack of motivation.

6. Lower socioeconomic status. People with lower incomes tend to use food as recreation or pleasure, putting them at higher risk for gaining weight. Obesity is epidemic among lower income groups.

This paints a fairly dismal picture. But all is not lost. Try these tips for success:

1. Find a partner or create a small group of like-minded people who all want to lose weight. There really is power in numbers!

2. Create a simple plan based on what you know you can achieve. Start simple and keep it basic, such as no super sizing a fast food meal. Try that for a week, then move on to no fast food meals or just salads.

3. Set up simple, non-food rewards, such as seeing a movie at the end of the week.

4. Get your family involved so that they help rather than hinder you. For instance, the whole family gets to see a movie Friday night if the diet plans have been followed all week.

5. Decide on a new, healthy food to include in your diet for one week. Make it something simple like an apple. Make it a game for your group or your family. Can we all eat an apple every day this week? Set up a chart on the refrigerator. Have the children draw a game board with markers for success.

6. Assess your family schedule. If you are burning out, eliminate some activities so that you have another free night at home. Then go out for a walk around the neighborhood and talk to each other.

These simple steps can empower you to lose that excess weight. You don’t have to be helpless anymore!

Looking for diet and weight loss tips? Kathy Ferneau has created an excellent resource for information on diets, healthy eating, and exercise. Click here: http://www.lose-weight-diets.com

Screen reader choice is contentious: differing priorities and strong preferences are common. The open source GNOME desktop environment long included Gnopernicus and now includes Orca. A persons choice of screen reader is dictated by many factors, including platform and the role of organizations like charities, schools, and employers.

Access technology such as screen readers and Screen magnifiers enable the blind to use mainstream computer applications. The console-based Oralux Linux distribution ships with three screen-reading environments: Emacspeak, Yasr and Speakup. Linux distributions for the blind include Oralux and Adriane Knoppix. Comming month Anthony Loeff medical volunteer is reporting digital tools for visually impaired Web browsers, word processors, icons and windows and email programs are just some of the applications used successfully by screen reader users.

There are also open source screen readers, such as the Linux Screen Reader for GNOME and NonVisual Desktop Access for Windows.

The rest have some vision, from light perception alone to relatively good acuity. Increasingly, screen readers are being bundled with operating system distributions. This interpretation is then represented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons, or a braille output. The latter developed in part by Knopper who has a visual impairment. The Macintosh OS also comes with a built-in screen reader, called VoiceOver. Screen readers can be assumed to be able to access all display content that is not intrinsically inaccessible.

A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen. Screen readers are a form of assistive technology potentially useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, or learning disabled, often in combination with other AT such as screen magnifiers. Most legally blind people 85 percent do not use computers. Experimental approaches in sensory substitution are beginning to provide access to arbitrary live views from a camera.

The primary audience for such applications is those who have difficulty reading because of learning disabilities or language barriers. Further, using a screen reader is, according to some users, considerably more difficult than using a GUI and many applications have specific problems resulting from the nature of the application. Indeed functionality remains limited compared to equivalent desktop applications, the major benefit is to increase the accessibility of said websites. Only a small fraction of this population, when compared to the sighted community, have Internet access.

Later versions of Microsoft Windows include an Accessibility Wizard and Magnifier for those with partial vision, and Microsoft Narrator, a simple screen reader. Recent versions of Microsoft Windows come with the rather basic Narrator. Near 25 percent of those deemed legally blind, by any measure, have no vision. While Apple Mac OS X includes VoiceOver, a more feature-rich screen reader. The movement towards greater web accessibility is opening a far wider number of websites to adaptive technology, making the web a more inviting place for visually impaired surfers.

Medical Coding training can be acquired from several different sources, but it is not always easy to locate a reputable, quality program. Virtually the entire training curriculum deals with the academic training. This is a very necessary part of the training, but the best program is one that facilitates strenuous hands-on, realistic training. This is of utmost importance when prepping students for their new career.
We highly recommend looking for a program that permits a person to attain a medical coding education at their own pace from home, without having to give up their current job.
This training requires an investment of time and money, and although not for everyone, it is the best way to attain a medical coding education and become eligible for a satisfying job in the field.
A Medical Coding training program can cost you a great deal in terms of both time and money, so which program you choose is a critical decision. One of the most frustrating aspects of committing to a program can be the time and expense incurred if you change your mind and decide to withdraw and start over with another program. So how can you decide if a Medical Coding program is any good, and what sets quality schools apart from the rest? Realistically, the only thing that matters is your ability to get the job that you desire upon completion of your training. Desirable coding abilities depend upon your personal effort in a reliable course of training. If you put 100% of your effort into a respectable program, you will learn to be a competent Medical Coder.

The liver has many functions, but the one I will concentrate on is its ability to neutralize toxins we eat. The liver is responsible for making sure that nutrients reach your cells and blood is free of toxins and pathogens. It does this by moving these contaminates out through your 5 channels of elimination - kidneys, lungs, colon, lymphatic system, and skin.

Of course, when these 5 channels become toxic, sluggish, or blocked, the liver itself becomes toxic and sluggish. This causes the liver to become inefficient, which leads to an unhealthy body.

Sluggish Liver
As the liver loses its ability to detoxify toxins, you will exhibit a variety of symptoms and various illnesses - constipation, high cholesterol, irritable bowel, asthma, skin rashes, high blood sugar, allergies. Other conditions related to a sluggish liver are:

* High blood pressure

* abdominal bloating

* pot belly, weight gain, cellulite

* elevated cholesterol

* brownish spots on your skin

* acne, pimples, eczema

* hot flashes, irritability, depression

* chronic fatigue syndrome

The liver is most affected by the foods we eat. What is especially deadly is eating food products that have “Hydrogenated Oils”, which contain trans-fatty acids. The liver sees trans-fatty acids as a toxin and not as a nutrient. At least 40% of all the fat that you consume or more, if you eat junk food, contains hydrogenated oils :

Trans-fatty acids are deadlier than regular animal fat. Trans-fatty acids are associated with heart disease, breast cancer, and diabetes.

What a good liver does

The more junk food you eat the more you overload your liver. Its ability to process and create the nutrients that you need is hampered. Its ability to process and utilize fat is reduced.

If your liver is sluggish and overworked, it will store the fats you eat within its own cells, within the cells of your body and especially around your mid drift.

When your liver is working properly, some fats are eliminated through bile and out through fecal matter. If you eat plenty of fiber, this fat is absorbed by the fiber and held there until you have a bowel movement. If you do not eat enough fiber, this fat can be reabsorbed by the colon walls and routed back to the liver to be reprocessed.

So now you can see how important is it to reduce, from all sources, the amount of toxins that get into your body and to eat plenty of fiber.

Rejuvenating your liver

So what will it take to rejuvenate your liver so that it is not sluggish, not toxic, and functions like it should to help you maintain your weight?

There are three things that you need to do. These things take a lot of work. You have to be motivated to do them. Getting your liver back to health will takes some time since you need to remove the toxins from your liver slowly otherwise you will have side effects.

* Eat liver friendly foods

* Cleanse the liver

* Strengthen the liver

Eat liver friendly foods:

Prepare a liquid green drink for your liver first thing in the morning.

* squeeze the juice of one lemon into a glass

* add one tablespoon of chlorophyll

* add one tablespoon of aloe vera drink

* add 8 oz of distilled water

This drink helps to regenerate the liver.

* The lemon helps your liver regenerate and produce bile (healthy bile is necessary for breaking down fat so that fats can be absorbed properly into the liver.)

* Chlorophyll helps to detoxify your colon so fewer toxins get into the liver.

* The lemon and aloe vera help stimulate bowel movements.

The liver needs plenty of minerals. As you know minerals are obtained from fruits and vegetables. Once a day try to drink a vegetable juice. A juice that I enjoy is:

* Carrots

* Celery

* Apples

If you can’t make your own juices, buy bottled. It is better to drink these than to not drink any vegetable juices at all.

Here are some foods to add to your eating habits. These foods are liver friendly and will help liver to get rid of its toxic condition and regenerate itself.

* beets, asparagus, broccoli,

* green and red cabbage, brussels sprouts

* carrots, squash, okra

* collard greens, mustard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, arugula

* cauliflower

* green beans

* peas

* tomatoes

* spinach

* potatoes, yams, avocado

* onions, garlic, ginger, bell peppers, olives, radishes

* eggs - two a day

* flax seed oil - two tablespoons a day

* olive oil

* apples, grapefruits, oranges, plums, cherries, peach, berries

* cranberry juice

* sesame seeds, cashews, almonds

* pumping, papaya, mangoes

* all lettuces except iceberg

* brown rice

* chicken, fish

* all legumes, sprouts of all types

* organic soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, distilled water

* honey, maple syrup

Herbs to use as seasonings:

* basil, bay leaves, caraway,

* rosemary, dill, parsley, thyme

* oregano, tarragon, chives, cardamom

Add some of these foods, if you are not already eating them, to your eating habits and in next article, I will give you some herbal formulas for teas that you can drink daily for good liver function.

Rudy Silva is a natural nutritionist. He writes a newsletter called “Natural Remedies That work.” You can subscribe to his newsletter and read some of the back issues which give you information of how to have better health. Read his latest newsletter at: http://www.natural-remedies-thatwork.com/nl-110.html

CLA, otherwise known as conjugated linoleic acid may be a supplement you want to consider for help in your weight loss efforts. CLA has become popular because of its reported benefits of fat loss, cancer fighting, improving cholesterol, immune system improvement, and possible prevention of atherosclerosis.

Researching CLA may leave you wanting to take it whether or not fat loss is your goal.

CLA is a fatty acid that is found in small amounts in meat and dairy products. However don’t plan on getting the benefits of CLA from eating these foods. There is just not enough CLA present. Supplement companies have found a way to convert the linoleic acid from safflower oil into conjugated linoleic acid. This allows you an affordable way to get the benefits of CLA.

Studies that have shown promise were done using dosages of 3 to 4 grams of CLA per day. Most supplement companies sell CLA in dosages from 500 milligrams to 1 gram per pill - This means you may have to take several pills per day to get the optimal results. CLA is different from many weight loss supplements as it does not contain stimulants and you probably will not “feel” any immediate effect from taking CLA. You will want to stay on CLA from 4-6 weeks before expecting to see any results.

If you decide to do further research on CLA you will undoubtedly find it listed on many bodybuilding sites. The reason for this is that CLA has also shown promise in helping to maintain lean muscle tissue. Do not let this deter you from trying it because this will help you improve your fat to muscle ratio. In other words - you will look better

The opinion of many health and fitness professionals is that CLA may be something you want to consider adding to your daily health regimen. I recommend purchasing your CLA online in order to save money. Tonalin is a brand name that you will see on many different companies form of CLA. Tonalin is the most researched, highest quality CLA that you will find. Purchase from a reputable company and give CLA time to show some effects.

Bill Herren is the webmaster for http://www.proweightloss.com bringing you top rated diet weight loss supplements and weight loss ebooks

The South Beach Diet book has only been available since 2003 and already it has a huge following. We all want to look good on the beach, so what is it, how do you do it and does it work?

What is it?

The diet gets it’s name from the beach at Miami, South Florida where it was invented by a cardiologist named Dr. Arthur Agatston. He has a practice nearby and created it especially for his overweight heart patients who needed a weight loss and eating program.

The south beach diet is centered around carbs and fats. For losing weight the doctor found that there are good carbs and good fats as well as bad carbs and bad fats. The diet works by gradually changing the bad carbs and replacing them with good ones. It does this in 3 special phases…

The 3 phases of the south beach diet

Phase 1… The 1st phase is designed to stop further cravings for bad carbs and fats. You do this by cutting all carbs and fats for 2 weeks.

Phase 2… Now a selection of good carbs are introduced. To keep you losing weight there are still some food restrictions. You stay at this phase until you reach your target weight.

Phase 3… This is where you eat to maintain the weight you’re at and is more of an eating guide. All good carbs and fats now become available to be eaten in moderation as they should be. Eventually you’re left with a range of tasty foods you can eat all the time and you’re at the weight you want.

To summarize

Phase 1 is the hardest part, but only lasts 2 weeks. Phase 2 has a good range of foods and is easy to follow. Phase 3 has a very wide choice and even allows restaurant visits and wine (see the official site for further details).

At the Official South Beach Diet website you’ll find lots of help to succeed. There are food lists, recipes and you can get a personal profile to tailor the plan to your exact needs. It’s well worth a look.

The south beach diet overall

The south beach diet is very well thought out. Having 3 phases makes it easy to follow. Re-introducing good carbs and fats gradually is a great idea. Cutting the craving for carbs in the first phase means it’s easier to resist them when you get back to your desired weight.

For general health this diet is excellent. The range of foods is very wide and good nutritionally. Overall this makes the south beach diet highly recommended.

By Simon Gould - taken from http://www.FitnessBegin.com/ - the wellbeing resource.

“The rose distils a healing balm The beating pulse of pain to calm”.– Anaceron

A symbol of love and purity, the rose has been used throughout history for all kinds of purposes. Be it therapeutic, ornamental or even as a gesture of affection, the rose has never fallen short of its usefulness.

History

The Romans made full use of the rose in their banquets as means of decoration. The noble ones had roses floating in their Falernian wine. Brides and grooms and images of their deities, Cupid and Venus, were crowned with roses. Rose was a sign of pleasure to them, a complement to wine.

The rose came to be popularly known as a subject in literature, the earliest records being Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

Ecology

Roses are found throughout temperate regions of the world. Its origins are thought to be Northern Persia, on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia where it spread across Mesopotamia to Palestine and across Asia Minor to Greece. From there, the Greeks may have brought it to Southern Italy.

The word rosa, came form the Greek word rodon, which means “red” and the rose of ancient times was said to be of a dark crimson color.

Aroma

The deep, rich and flowery fragrance of rose gives it a hint of femininity and the uplifting sweet smell makes it a popular flavour in scents and even in food.

Health Notes

The rose is mild on all skin conditions, be it dry, hard or sensitive skins. Its wound-healing properties aid in the skin repair process.

When inhaled, the rose is a mild sedative and antidepressant, which is calming for those who suffer from shock, depression, anger and resentment. Although a mild sedative, rose is soothing on the nervous system, which can induce sleep.

Rose also works as a tonic for the womb to alleviate premenstrual syndrome and regulate the menstrual cycle. Rose tones the vascular and digestive systems by purging and cleansing them. For the vascular system, rose cleanses the blood capillaries and relieves cardiac congestion, thus regulating the heart.

Its effect on the digestive system is significant for it strengthens the stomach, promotes the flow of bile and the elimination of feces. The purging action of the rose helps clear the body of toxins and wastes. Therefore, rose is an ideal relief for nausea, vomiting and constipation.

A popular use of the rose is perhaps its aphrodisiac qualities, which is ideal for those suffering from impotence.

Safety is a concern with weight loss supplements. This is particularly true with prescription medications, where the powerful medications can have disastrous, unexpected results.

One example of this is the fen-phen disaster, where the diet pill fen-phen caused heart damage. Many hundreds of people suffered damage to the heart valves, some requiring surgical replacement of the valves and causing lifelong health problems.

But even over-the-counter supplements can be dangerous. One example is ephedrine. Ephedrine was widely promoted as a weight loss and energy supplement.

While the benefits were modest, the risks were high. Ephedrine raises blood pressure, and its use led to heart attacks and stroke. It was banned for sale in the United States in February 2004.

But not all supplements are dangerous. There is one supplement that you should be aware of that is safe and effective. It is called DHEA (abbreviation for dehydroepiandrostenedione.)

DHEA is a hormone, made by the body, that helps with metabolism of fats. Levels of DHEA peak at around age 20 and rapidly decline after age 25.

DHEA has been the subject of a great deal of scientific research. One of the most interesting studies was done at Washington University School of Medicine (Effect of DHEA on abdominal fat and insulin action in elderly women and men: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2004 Nov 10;292(18):2243-8.)

They studied a group of elderly patients who were given DHEA as a supplement. They each took 50 mg. of DHEA per day. What they found was that those that took DHEA lost visceral fat (visceral fat is fat that surrounds our internal organs) and abdominal fat (abdominal fat is the fat that gives us a saggy belly and a “beer gut.”)

Why is this important? Because people that have higher levels of visceral fat and abdominal fat tend to have more heart attacks and strokes. They also tend to have more high blood pressure and diabetes, which is known as the “metabolic syndrome.” So not only does abdominal fat ruin your figure, it ruins your health.

Can you be sure that DHEA is safe? Yes, DHEA is safe. It is a substance that is identical to what your body makes. You have high levels of it when you are young, and it declines when you age.

So when you take DHEA, you are just replacing what your body is no longer making. There are no side effects and no known risks to taking it. It is available in health food stores without a prescription.

This is a supplement that you should consider if you are trying to lose weight and become fit. It won’t do the whole job for you. You still need to have proper diet and activity that is right for you.

But DHEA will help take off some of that abdominal fat, and it may help you avoid complications like diabetes and heart disease. Consider using it as part of your program of permanent weight loss.

Dan Curtis, M.D. can help YOU lose weight. Sign up for our free newsletter: Dr. Dan’s Super Weight Loss Tips, Tricks and Secrets. It’s free! Click here– http://www.superweightlossplan.com/newsletter/

The parsnip has been cultivated in Europe for centuries. It was especially popular before the arrival of the potato and was used as a valuable source of carbohydrate.

Parsnips contain natural sugars which impart a sweet taste to the vegetable. The Elizabethans used parsnips as a sweetmeat with honey and spices as well as serving the root as a vegetable. The carbohydrate in parsnips is stored in the form of natural sugars. This contrasts with the potato where the carbohydrate is 90% starch. Parsnips are considered sweeter than carrots. With almost three quarters of the sugar in parsnips as sucrose, the sugar we extract from sugar cane. By comparison, sucrose accounts for only one third of the sugar in carrots. Sucrose is not at all damaging to health when consumed in its natural form in its parent plant.

Culpeper (1653) writes that ‘the garden parsnip nourisheth much and is good and wholesome, but a little windy whereby it is thought to procure bodily lust; but it fatteneth the body if much used. it is good for the stomach and reins (kidneys) and provoketh urine’.

Today we appreciate that the parsnip is not fattening, with a mere 20Kcal per 100g. Compare this to fats and oils at around 900Kcal per 100g.

Kevin Pederson has been managing a number of natural home remedies websites which have information on home based natural cures and remedies by some of the common itmes in house as well as parsnips.

Every year in the UK around 1,600 people die from mesothelioma, a terminal lung disease which is normally caused by contact with asbestos. Many of the people who have learnt the devastating news that they are suffering from an incurable condition, have made the decision to speak to a personal injury solicitor. A solicitor with expertise in this area of the law can help them to make a personal injury claim. Asbestos related illnesses, which people are suffering from today, could have been avoided if action was taken many years ago.

It is difficult to swallow the facts and figures surrounding asbestos use. Thousands of people are waking up to the fact that their professional lives as many as 30 or 40 years ago were in fact contributing to an early and painful death.

Asbestos was once hailed as a fantastic, revolutionary material and its fire resistant properties were ideal for use in the construction industries, in plumbing and ship building. Asbestos was installed in buildings throughout the world and many hundreds of thousands of men, women and children came into constant contact with it. Whilst it is not dangerous when lying untouched, it becomes deadly when its’ fibres are disturbed. People working in these industries are most at risk of contracting these diseases however; their families are also at risk of becoming ill at some point in the future. Barry Welch died at the age of 32 because he came into contact with asbestos dust when he was a child. His stepfather came home each night covered in the deadly fibres.

A large number of employers have now admitted liability for the suffering of their previous employees. Protection was not offered to many of the people who are now living with asbestosis, mesothelioma, emphysema, pleural plaques and lung cancer. It has been discovered that many employers continued to expose workers, even though they had become aware of the inherent risks.

Many people suffering from lung diseases as a result of their employers’ negligence have received injury compensation payouts as a result of their contact with a personal injury solicitor. Tracing previous employers and attributing liability is difficult, but people suffering because of another person’s action are legally entitled to make an injury claim for the suffering caused by their work accident.

Unfortunately, new legislation has recently been passed which may mean an end to large compensation payouts for families of asbestos disease sufferers. Britain’s highest court ruled that where a worker was exposed to asbestos dust by several employers, each was liable to pay only a proportionate share of compensation rather than the whole amount. Because many of the employers responsible for fatal asbestos exposure were operating as many as 40 years ago they may now no longer exist or cannot be traced.

Employers union the TUC is calling for the reversal of what it calls a cruel and unjust decision. Many people who may have received hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation may now only receive a fraction of this amount.

If you are suffering from an asbestos related illness then you may wish to discuss your options with a personal injury solicitor who has specialist knowledge of industrial diseases.